Scott Walker: President Obama and I had vision for offices

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker urged his party Friday to figure out what it stands for and push for “bold” policies, saying Washington-style squabbling and simply opposing policies are big turnoffs to voters.

“What I would argue we did [in Wisconsin] is we pushed aggressive reforms by dramatically taking on the status quo,” he said. “I hear time and time again from voters across the spectrum … I’m sick and tired of politicians who say one thing when they get elected and then completely back down when they get into office.”

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He pointed to his own state, which is blue on the presidential level but voted for him as its Republican governor in 2010 and the 2012. Some voters chose both him and President Barack Obama, which he said “politically makes no sense whatsoever” — but that voters were responding to his and Obama’s clearly articulated visions for what they’d do in office.

“A significant number chose to support both me and the president because they felt we were for something,” he said. “It may not be consistent ideologically, but it’s something where they said both of our opponents … didn’t fill the void to tell people what they would do.”

He said his opponent in both 2010 and 2012, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, made the election a referendum on him rather than pushing new ideas — and that Romney did the same on the presidential level in 2012.

“In some ways the Republican nominee was very similar: ‘I’m not Barack Obama,’” he said.

Walker’s comments came during a wide-ranging conversation with reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in downtown Washington Friday morning. It capped a week of national travel and interviews centered around the Tuesday release of his book, “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge.”

He said voters are tired of what they view as unnecessary bickering in Washington.

“I think the feeling in America … not just focused on Republicans but based on everybody, is they think people in Washington just fight for the sake of fighting,” he said. “I think voters don’t mind fighters as long as they’re fighting for them.”

Walker said again, as he’s mentioned in previous interviews this week, that he thinks a governor, rather than someone in Washington, would be best positioned to win the presidency in 2016.

But he said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is an exception to that rule.

“It’s hard not to be impressed with his tenacity for his reform,” he said. “He’s looking at issues beyond just a traditional congressman’s point of view.”

Walker also spoke about the Senate’s move to reform filibuster rules for most executive appointments yesterday, saying in general he feels legislatures should defer to chief executives on appointments for their administrations, but that he understands conservatives’ concerns about judicial appointments.

“I think, in general, that executives — be it a governor, be it a county executive or be it a president — if he or she wants to put people into the administration, my belief is deference should be given to the chief executive in terms of the appointments they make to executive positions,” he said. “Where I understand there’s a larger concern about judicial appointments is obviously … there does warrant a larger level of scrutiny just because on the federal bench you have lifetime appointments.”

“So, I think it does make some sense to have a higher standard and not blow that up, as frustrating as it is to people on either end of the spectrum and their candidates in office,” he continued.